Ghana's gold purchase losses date back to 2022 - Dr Steve Manteaw

Policy analyst Dr Steve Manteaw has revealed that Ghana recorded losses from its domestic gold purchase programmes for four consecutive years between 2022 and 2025.

He questioned why the current reported US$1.7 billion loss has attracted heightened public concern.

Dr Manteaw, who co-chairs the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), said losses associated with gold purchases are not new and should be assessed alongside the foreign exchange and reserve benefits generated by the programmes.

“There is a certain level of insincerity in discussing this issue. We make it look like this is the first time Ghana is making losses in its gold purchase programme. I have looked at the data — in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, we incurred losses in all those years. Why didn’t that become a problem?” he told Joy News on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

He cited 2024 as an example, noting that Ghana recorded a combined loss of about GH¢5.7 billion from gold-related programmes. Of this amount, GH¢1.8 billion was linked to the Gold-for-Oil initiative, while GH¢3.8 billion stemmed from the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme for reserves.

Despite these figures, Dr Manteaw argued that the programmes should be assessed based on their overall impact on Ghana’s economy rather than on reported losses alone.

He described the reported US$1.7 billion loss as a transaction cost rather than an outright failure.

“If you had to incur a loss of $1.7 billion to bring in $10 billion, that, for me, shouldn’t be a problem. It means that what we call losses are transaction costs,” he explained.

Dr Manteaw’s comments add to the ongoing debate over the financial performance of Ghana’s gold purchase arrangements and whether reported losses should be considered in isolation or balanced against their contribution to foreign exchange inflows and reserve accumulation.

#TrendingGH: 'We have used it for years' - Traders speak on Ethemax use



DR/SA